NRSD Templar
Launched in the second semester of 8 ABY, NRSD ''Templar'' was immediately put onto the line of battle to increase the operational firepower of the burgeoning New Republic Navy. The new ship showed promise, and its crew was eager to employ their new charge into the galactic scene. New Republic officials, though, sent her to Mon Calamari to be included into the newly reformed Second Fleet. There, she took on her flight operations squadrons and went under the flag of her sister ship [[NRSD Crusader|NRSD Crusader]]. It was a quiet, lackluster life for the next five years for Templar. Serving as the fleet's auxiliary command cruiser often meant staying behind to coordinate defense of the Calamari system while Crusader would take a small task force out to deal with regional incursions or events. Galactic military analysts would claim that Templar was a "melancholy" warship, "wasting away the best years of her life" on nothing more than glorified guard duty. She did accompany the fleet to Chandrila in 13 ABY to assist in moving the New Republic government to the newly-retaken Coruscant, and then stayed on to patrol the Perlemian Trade Route between Coruscant and the "Six Sisters". She was at Chandrila when notice came of an Imperial buildup in the region just coreward of Caspia. New Republic officials, fearful of losing an important ally and thereby losing the link between Calamari and the Core Worlds, summoned all available ships to Caspia to reinforce the Caspians in what was shaping out to be a massive engagement. Templar was placed in charge of six smaller ships in a region of space just three parsecs beyond Caspia and prepared for battle. An Imperial fleet instead struck at Mikassa in what has been acknowledged to be the opening hostilities of the Imperial Blitzkrieg of 14 ABY. Templar was ordered to stand fast, and a combined Caspian and Republican force responded to Mikassa and took back the planet. The lack of substantial defense of any kind at Mikassa hinted at what was later revealed to be a feint; instead, the Empire had invaded Chandrila in full force, and taken the system in a matter of hours. Several on board could not help but wonder what might have been had Templar remained at Chandrila. Knuckles Finally Bloodied With the Comms Network abuzz from news of Imperial activity, New Republic officials started amassing their resources so as best to respond to any future Imperial incursions. There was talk of sending Templar to Coruscant to join the First Fleet of the Republic in defense of the capital world, but that never came to reality. Instead, Templar was sent on a weeklong barnstorming tour of Nak Shimor, Ploo, Yavin, Thule, and lastly, the arsenal world of Ord Radama. At each point, a battalion of the ship's Army division would debark to reinforce that planet's garrison should the Imperials be mounting an assault to cross the Hydian Way. Just before leaving Ord Radama, a Comms Network broadcast notified Templar that the Imperials had just taken Corellia. The Star Destroyer was immediately ordered back to Mon Calamari. Upon rejoining Second Fleet, Templar was charged with leading up a battle squadron that included the MonCal starcruisers Heurkea and Venerable as well as a few smaller cruisers and assault frigates. The wait would not be long, as an Imperial task force (later to be identified as Task Force Crimson Star) arrived at the outskirts of the system with guns blazing. Templar promptly joined battle, and within minutes, was squared off against the Imperial Star Destroyer Antagonizer. The two ships passed each other, trading broadsides, and Templar handed the Imperial ship off to Venerable, while she instead focused on the escorting Carrack-class cruiser Chevron. With some concentrated fire, the Republican ship left the much smaller opponent a drifting wreck, and took the opportunity to recover and redeploy its fighters. During launching operations, Templar hauled over and fired a few salvos towards the infamous [[I2SD Conqueror|HIMS Conqueror]], which was in a running "knifefight" with [[NRSD Crusader|NRSD Crusader]]. Then, Templar picked up another fight with an Imperial Strike-class cruiser that was in her final minutes and helped finish her off. At that point, Templar swung around to witness the climax of the battle. NRAF Adamant, one of Templar's Assault Frigates, had been heavily damaged in a broadside exchange with the very Strike-class cruiser that Templar had just finished off. Her bridge crew, reduced to a shaken clutch of officers, had committed to ramming Conqueror, thereby disabling the head of the Imperial beast. As Adamant bore down on the Imperial Star Destroyer, the Imperial captain rolled his ship over, taking the brunt of the damage on the portside flank. Then, while still under fire, extricated the Republican ship from his own, and directed Conqueror to escape. Templar was the last ship of significance to get a salvo off at the wounded Imperial before she escaped to hyperspace. With the battle over, Templar went about recovering fighters, rescuing survivors, and assessing damage. She had gotten off lightly, with no damage that would incur a prolonged repair time. In fact, most of the repairs could be completed within 12 hours, with no loss of combat effectiveness. For this very reason, when a recon report indicated that the Imperial survivors had been sighted at Fwillsving, New Republic Command ordered Templar to promptly depart to finish them off. On the Hunt The Republican battleship arrived outside Fwillsving with two accompanying corvettes, with every intent on hopefully springing on the wounded Imperials while they were assessing their own damage. Instead of wounded vessels, though, Templar found nothing but sparse commercial traffic. Pressing local sources revealed that the Imperial forces had departed this location no more than six hours prior to the Republican's arrival. The Fwillsvingese were none too cooperative, being very cryptic in their responses, and the captain of Templar was starting to grow annoyed when an erratic broadcast was received that an Imperial fleet had encircled Sullust. The message was relayed back to Mon Calamari, whereupon New Republic Command ordered Templar on to Sullust to, at the very least, appraise the situation firsthand. In one of the more notable feats of astrogation performed by a New Republic navigator, the Templar came out of hyperspace in a near-perfect location that gave the ship an exceptional view of the Sullustan system while giving the Imperial blockade absolutely no notice as to their arrival. After a quick survey of the situation, one of the corvettes was dispatched back to Mon Calamari to report. Templar would occupy this location for the rest of the week, silently observing the ongoing blockade, keeping just out of notice of the Imperial fleet. Turning of the Colors Word got back to the (more coming) (more coming)... Templar, now under full control of the Imperial Navy, was dispatched back to Selene to undergo a full refit. There, she was rechristened [[RSD Retribution|HIMS Retribution]]. Templar